"Sister Xiao, I must admit my defeat." Chief Elder Suxian finally humbled himself. "Both in talent and in character that candidate of yours is superior to mine."
"Do not be dispirited Brother Suxian! I'm sure you'll get your hands on Exquisite Purple Jasmin again."
"You!" Chief Elder Luoming naturally knew how difficult it had been for Chief Elder Suxian to get just enough for one cup of tea. Unfortunately, he could not give in to his anger. "Brother Luoming, Sister Baishen, I must speak up for my candidate. He's still very young. I promise I'll discipline him." When he said these words, flames of fury erupted in his eyes and Sun Liao felt a cold shiver running down his spine. "Please, could you do me a favor today and overlook his misconduct?"
Bowing deeply, Chief Elder Suxian really tried to smooth things over. Sun Liao was a real genius when it came to array formations, as his little stunt had just demonstrated. And it happened to be that Chief Elder Suxian was the chief elder in charge of the array formation pavilion. It had been ages since he scouted out such a talent and he could not bear to part with him even before he got accepted in the sect.
"Brother Suxian, I think we should not be the ones to decide on this matter." Chief Elder Baishen looked at Xiao Xuefeng. "Miss Xiao, this concerns your candidate, what is your opinion?"
"This little Sun did not mean any harm to Chen Guo. He only tried to humiliate him. I'm confident in Chief Elder Suxian's ability to teach him the error of his ways. Let's forget about it."
Chief Elder Suxian was ecstatic. "Thank you, Miss Xiao. You're so benevolent. I swear that this punk will never forget this lesson!" Sun Liao would probably pay the loss of his Exquisite Purple Jasmin as well...
-
Cao Yun was still unconscious. His use of Yi had been really intense. Unbeknownst to him, the Yi character in his sea of consciousness had begun to shine. Resonating with it, the vague Zhi character had started to become firmer. In this ordeal, he had exerted his intent to its limit and pushed some more. Thus, he had also consolidated his will and the Zhi character with it.
But this change was still unknown to Cao Yun. He felt a sweet sensation in his body. From the heavens, a cool energy entered his meridians and spread in his body. As he regained consciousness, he remembered this presence. It was Xiao Xuefeng. Despite the distance between them, she was still able to heal him. Of course, Cao Yun understood that she was probably watching from the start. But he was amazed. He could not see her but she was nonetheless able to send Qi in his body. If a Spirit Warrior wanted to harm him, Cao Yun could do nothing with his current strength.
Standing up, he saw the concerned faces of the commoners around him. Ren Chao's face was the ugliest. Just when Cao Yun opened his eyes, this ugly face turned into the most radiant of smiles.
"Brother Chen! Brother Chen! You were incredible! The way you broke that horn! The way you..." Ren Chao could not stop himself. He almost redid the entire fight while shouting close to Cao Yun's face. The poor boy almost went deaf. Ren Chao's joy was really contagious as all the commoners were shouting and yelling.
On the other side, the nobles were also all impressed by Cao Yun's performance but they just weren't as expressive. The only one who had a gloomy face was Sun Liao. He had tried to humiliate Cao Yun, but not only had he failed miserably, Cao Yun was now a hero and Chief Elder Suxian who was doting on him seemed to bear a grudge now. He made up his mind not to harass Cao Yun in the near future.
-
After everyone calmed down, the elders concerted with each other to decide on the points. They were really embarrassed about the malfunction of the array and had to come up with some kind of compensation.
The man of the hour was busy thinking. During the fight, he had realized many things about 'Dance of Slaughter'. Each move was not meant to be isolated as a single attack. They all contained profound truths about fighting that he could use together. In his last assault, he had used three of the eight moves together. The most enigmatic move was the eighth and last one 'Slaughtering the Enemy'. By vibrating at the moment of the attack, any part of his body could send a killing wave inside an opponent. He had been able to use his shoulder, but he could probably do it with his knees, his elbows, even with a headbutt. He realized that he could not only vibrate his muscles but he could probably also vibrate the Qi within him.
A Mortal cultivator could not send Qi outside of his body voluntarily. That was the huge difference between Mortal and Mortal Warrior. But by vibrating his Qi, still within the confines of his flesh, it could be used for killing.
He asked for some calm to the other commoners and they let him meditate on the fight he just had.
Cao Yun got inside his sea of consciousness. He was too busy studying his 'Dance of Slaughter' and he did not look at the Zhi character, or he would have noticed the difference. In his mind, he performed the routine several times and in reality, he could feel his Qi vibrating along with it.
In the sky, Chief Elder Baishen was the most interested in the boy. As a Spirit Warrior she could clearly see his Qi with her spiritual senses even through his flesh. She was the head of the martial art pavilion. Not unlike Cao Yun who loved learning new martial arts, Chief Elder Baishen always loved testing herself against other techniques. She had not learned that many arts, but she had fought almost every style. However, this one was different from everything she ever knew. An entire new world opened before her eyes and she could not suppress her excitement.
Her brothers were a little concerned when they saw her staring at the little boy. They even wondered if maybe she happened to have some deviant ideas about him. Luckily, they did not speak out loud, otherwise, their sister would have probably broken their bones.
-
At last, Elder Tang and his three brothers decided on the result.
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"Candidates, attention!" Everyone turned toward the small platform above the array formation. Even Cao Yun stopped his meditation. "First of all, I will announce those who failed."
This time, they already knew who had failed because the requirement was clear. Anyone who could not kill two beasts was disqualified. By the end of the list, there were only sixty-one people left.
"Now, for the ranking." This time, Elder Tang started by the end. He wanted a little suspense. His brothers also stated the points of some candidates but the top ten were given by Elder Tang.
"Li Gui - 84 points
Zhi Wang - 87 points
Xin Chen - 88 points
Xin Xiong - 91 points
Mei Hua - 94 points
Tian Lan - 96 points
Ren Chao - 97 points
Zhao Qing - 105 points
Sun Liao - 132 points
Chen Guo - 156 points"
Everyone was surprised. According to their calculation, each beast was 10 points. After all Sun Liao had just gotten 80 points for this trial.
"Due to the malfunction of the array, Chen Guo had to face all eight beasts at the same time. We decided on an additional 20 points to compensate him." Elder Tang faced Cao Yun. "I was at fault. These trials are my responsibility. As a representative of the Wubei Sect, I apologize."
The way he addressed Cao Yun was different now. Most likely, Cao Yun would get accepted in the sect and given the talent he had demonstrated, he probably would have great achievements. Of course not all talented disciple ended up as legendary powerhouses. Talent alone could not predict success, but being friendly with talented people was never a mistake.
Cao Yun cupped his fists. "I thank Elder Tang. It so happens that this fight just now gave me new insights into my art." He looked at Sun Liao from the corner of his eyes. "It was a blessing in disguise."
"Good, good."
Sun Liao did not know how much more he could stand. Chief Elder Suxian would probably make him suffer, the man he considered as an eyesore was the hero, he even got 20 additional points, and he rubbed it in by boasting about his new insights. Of course, Sun Liao knew that Cao Yun would suspect him. He did not mind at first for he had no proof, but in the end, the chief elder of the array formation pavilion was here and had obviously seen through his actions.
Cao Yun had indeed no proof against Sun Liao but he knew. After all his efforts to not antagonize him, the boy still tried to do him dirty. As much as Cao Yun did not like useless conflicts, he was not going to just get trampled on.
"Fellow Cultivator Sun. I remember that the next trial should be about talent. What about we compete against each other?"
Sun Liao wanted to dig a hole. He knew that Chief Elder Suxian was watching, but so were all the nobles and the commoners he had insulted.
"Brother Chen. I..." Sun Liao got more respectful toward Cao Yun. "I fear that I'm not your match. I'll try to focus more on the trials so as not bring more shame to my name."
"Oh? I'm very disappointed. I thought Fellow Cultivator Sun would have more backbone." Cao Yun shook his head in a disapproving way. "But I seem to recall we already have a bet going on, right?"
Sun Liao really wanted everyone to forget about that. "Indeed, Brother, I remember now. That was a little childish of me... If Brother could just..."
"I'm looking forward to seeing you kowtow. But if I'm not mistaken, you're also supposed to admit the inferiority of the noble candidates." Cao Yun shook his head. "I don't think it's right for you to implicate them with your failure." Sun Liao's face turned red. "What about it, Fellow Cultivator Sun? Let's change the bet. You will only admit your own inferiority."
"You!" Sun Liao almost erupted but he felt the gaze of Chief Elder Suxian on him. "Brother Chen is right... There is no reason to implicate anyone else, this bet is just between us."
Ren Chao went back to the charge. "Brother Chen, well said! Well said! I'm also looking forward to Sun Liao kowtowing before us. Ha, ha, ha!"
This time, the nobles were not angry. They even began to sincerely cheer, albeit discreetly, for Cao Yun. Now, the bet had nothing to do with them, Sun Liao was alone.
-
"Candidates, the pause is over. Follow me." Elder Tang took the remaining candidates to another area.
This time it was a small building. Inside, there was a circular ring on a platform. Right in the middle of the ring stood a metallic puppet with the same structure as a human body. All around the room were racks with several weapons. There were also many bookshelves full of old manuals.
"As I said in front of the Shell Gate, the next trial will be about talent. Each one of you will choose a weapon among the Eighteen Classical Weapons. Then, you will browse through these old manuals and choose one martial art. In the very rare case where you would find a martial art you happen to know, you can't choose it. You will then be given one week to learn as much as you can from the manual in isolation. Finally, you will be judged on how much you learned and how well you mastered it."
Everyone had some questions. A young woman asked first.
"Elder Tang, please. There's something I'm not quite sure about. Could you help me?"
"Of course, ask your question."
"Every manual and every weapon should vary greatly in their difficulty. How are you going to evaluate our comprehension?"
"A sensible question!" He walked to the side of the puppet. "That's why this puppet is here. It's called the Eighteen Weapons Mechanical Puppet. A master blacksmith forged it, an array formation master gave it life, and a martial art master trained it. This puppet is moved by an array and it knows every single one of these manuals. Usually, it's used to train, but during the exam we take it out to test the candidates."
"It will fight against you and adapt to your level to push you. It's not just a test, it's also a sparring session. Some of you may gain great benefits from it. You can maybe even further your understanding of the martial art as you get tested. Once the puppet beats you, because it will, it will judge your performance based on the difficulty of the martial art, your own constitution and your overall understanding from the start of the fight to its end."
"Elder Tang, can't we beat this puppet?"
"Ha, ha! No, you can't! This puppet is so resistant that only a Spirit Warrior can break it. And with its knowledge of martial arts, it can spar against low-level Mortal Warriors. It will gradually up its fighting ability to match yours and as soon as you can't follow, you're done. But do not worry, it won't hurt you... too much."
"Let me be clear. You can choose any weapon, even one you already master. However, even though there shouldn't be any, I warn you again. You cannot choose a martial art you already know. And against the puppet, you can only use the martial art you chose, nothing else. As soon as you use another martial art, the fight will stop and you'll be judged by your performance no matter how short it was."
"If there is no more question, go choose your weapon and your martial art. You all have one hour to choose, but you can examine everything. There are 18 bookshelves with the corresponding weapons on the rack next to it."
The Eighteen Classical Weapons were the staff, the saber, the double-edged sword, the spear, the axe, the shield, the bow and arrow, the sword breaker (a metallic rod looking like a sword), the wind and fire wheels (cutting disks held in both hands), the mace, the dagger-axe with crescent blade, the halberd, the trident, the monk's spade, the hook sword, the whip, the rope or chain dart and the meteor hammer.
As every candidate went to the weapon they were the most familiar with or the one they thought would be the easiest, Cao Yun was conflicted.
He really did not know what to choose right now.